Energy firms will soon begin reporting quarterly and annual monetary and operational information in XBRL format to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The XBRL format isn’t new for public companies that have been submitting reports with XBRL tags to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for years, however the taxonomy for tagging FERC types shall be totally different.
TIME TO EVALUATE YOUR OPTIONS
In many respects, the burden ought to be lighter for FERC filers than SEC filers. Both will rely on the XBRL 2.1 Specification (which defines the fundamental constructing blocks of XBRL implementation in business reporting) and the Arelle open-source XBRL validation engine. And a “fact” in both reports is represented by a value (numeric or non-numeric), components, date, unit, and accuracy.
But, as we element below, you’ll notice fairly a couple of variations with FERC’s XBRL requirements.
SIMPLIFIED ELEMENT SELECTION
Standard schedules allow for highly prescriptive tag assignments. That means no extra tagging from scratch. For example, the Workiva answer for FERC reporting supplies users with pre-tagged varieties. These standardized pre-tagged forms not solely cut back preparation efforts considerably, they also reduce tagging inconsistencies—you can obtain larger knowledge quality with less effort.
Also, you are not required to tag each number. Notes to monetary statements require block tags solely. For instance, if disclosure notes are pasted into FERC Form 1 from the 10-K you file with the SEC, those can be tagged with a single textual content block for FERC. A bonus for users of the Workiva solution for SEC reporting and the Workiva resolution for FERC reporting: You will be in a position to hyperlink information in your 10-K to your pre-tagged Form 1 for consistency and effectivity.
If no applicable XBRL idea is available, the knowledge is to not be tagged. However, if an applicable concept exists, FERC requires the knowledge to be tagged (both numeric and nonnumeric). Note that some required information may be reported within footnotes for schedules.
Additionally, no extensions are allowed. Besides ideas, axes and members are additionally for use as supplied. So, how do you report company-specific data, such as officer names? In order to help reporting of company-specific info, FERC uses the typed dimension.
The bonus for Workiva users? Although FERC uses a special technical specification, you will note the Workiva FERC reporting solution presents the identical feel and appear as axis/member utility in the Workiva answer for SEC reporting.
NO OUTLINE MANAGEMENT OR CUSTOM DATES
For FERC reporting, no custom labels or label roles are needed. Labels are auto-assigned by the official FERC renderer based on form locations. Also, there are no calculation to define. In truth, customized calculations aren’t permitted. Validation guidelines will handle consistency checks.
Since FERC taxonomy assigns specific hypercube to every schedule, there is not a define structure to build. For customers of Workiva for FERC reporting, this is routinely managed by the Workiva platform.
Plus, reality ordering isn’t managed by the outline and is not required. FERC uses a numeric element “OrderNumber” to control sequencing of company-specific info. Users of the Workiva resolution for FERC reporting can simply assign row numbers in the type schedules as “OrderNumber” in the Workiva platform. Lastly, there aren’t any customized dates as you’re limited to a small record of allowable values.
SUBMISSION OF DATA AS INSTANCE DOCUMENT ONLY
Going ahead, there isn’t any digital form to submit. Machine-readable information is the important thing focus. Although not in iXBRL format, FERC’s official kind renderer will present standardized viewing for the submitted XBRL knowledge.
SUPPORTS REQUEST FOR CONFIDENTIAL DATA
Since most submitting information to the SEC is public document, the SEC doesn’t supply this, but FERC does. Whether FERC will actually approve a request for confidential knowledge is another question! If you have an XBRL vendor for SEC reporting, ensure your vendor also helps FERC compliance, since the FERC taxonomy will not be the same as the SEC reporting taxonomy.
PREPARE FOR YOUR NEEDS
Whether you outsource XBRL tagging, select an XBRL software program vendor, or make investments the time and money to build and preserve an in-house solution for FERC compliance, understanding the similarities and differences between XBRL filings for FERC and for the SEC will be essential when evaluating your choices.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Percy Hung is director of structured knowledge initiatives and Peter Larison is supervisor of structured data initiatives at Workiva. Workiva, Inc. is a global software-as-a-service company. It provides a cloud-based connected and reporting compliance platform that permits the usage of linked information and automation of reporting across finance, accounting, risk, and compliance. For เกจวัดแรงดันสูญญากาศ , go to www.workiva.com
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